Countdown to the Paralympics
Scottish stars gear up for fortnight of fierce
competition
The countdown has begun to the start of the Paralympics for some
of Scotland's top athletes.
From across the world, para-athletes are arriving in Britain for
two weeks of athletics, swimming, equestrian and team sports.
Scottish competitors will be among 4,200 athletes competing in
more than 500 medal events.
The British team hopes to win at least 103 medals. In Beijing in
2008, the Great Britain Paralympians came second in the medals
table, after China.
Tickets to events are set to sell out for the first time in the
Paralympics' 64-year history! More than 2.1 million of the 2.5
million tickets have been snapped up so far, with athletic, cycling
and wheelchair tennis events largely sold out.
On Wednesday, exactly a week before the Games start, four flames
will be lit at the top of the highest mountains in the four UK
nations.
Groups of disabled and non-disabled Scouts will climb Ben Nevis
in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales, Scafell Pike in England and Slieve
Donard in Northern Ireland where they will create sparks and kindle
a flame by rubbing flint.
Scotland's flame will then travel to Edinburgh for a day of
celebrations on Sunday before the four flames are united next
Tuesday for a 24-hour torch relay, ending at the Olympic Park in
London on Wednesday 29 August in time for the opening ceremony of
the Games.
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Countdown to the Paralympics
Say hello to tomorrow's superstars: seven top Scots at
the Games
Andrew Mullen - swimming
While most teenagers are fond of lying in their beds, swimmer
Andrew Mullen gets up at 4.30 am six days a week to undertake two
hours of training in the pool.
The 15-year-old, from Newton Mearns, was born with no forearms
or hands and has only one fully functioning limb.
He managed to combine his gruelling preparation for the 50m
butterfly and 50m back crawl at his first Paralympics while gaining
six As and two Bs in his school exams at intermediate 2 level.
"I am really excited, especially with it being home games," he
said. "The atmosphere is going to be amazing. I was watching the
Olympics and whenever a GB athlete was announced there was such a
roar."
His mum Katriona added: "We are very proud. I keep telling him
that by just getting there and getting selected, you are a
Paralympian now. That is a gold medal in itself. Just being there
and taking part is a huge achievement."
Kate Murray - archery
Archer Kate Murray, from the village of Bonchester Bridge in the
Borders, is the oldest member of Team GB. She will celebrate her
64th birthday during the Games.
Murray has a degenerative spine condition which means she has to
rely mainly on a wheelchair and is taking part in her second
Paralympics, having come seventh at the games in Beijing in
2008.
She said: "I first got archery lessons as a gift from a friend
just over 10 years ago. I had become too disabled to work and was
feeling sorry for myself at the time … but I decided to give it a
go and got started from there.
She added: "I'm looking towards going to Rio de Janeiro in
another four years. As far as I am concerned 64 is just a number.
It's nothing to do with what you can and can't do.."
Murray Elliot - archery
Murray Elliot, from Bo'ness, West Lothian, said he was "rubbish"
when he first tried archery. But now, 20 years later, he will
compete in the sport at his first Paralympic Games.
The 50-year-old trains with the Balbardie Archers five or six
days a week and decided to become part-time at his job as IT
manager at the Scottish Agricultural College last year to focus on
getting to the Games.
Elliot, who suffers from problems with his spine, said the sport
has helped keep him mobile and also introduced him to his wife
Hazel, whom he met at his archery club.
"I can't wait to step out in that stadium and hear the roar of
the crowd," he said.
Stephen and Peter McGuire - boccia
These brothers from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who have been
described by Billy Connolly as extraordinary, both have muscular
dystrophy and use wheelchairs, but are stars in the world of
boccia, a sport similar to French boules.
They will compete as a pair and individually at the Paralympics,
with another Scot, Scott McCowan, also making the British boccia
team.
For Stephen, 28, who is ranked world number two, it will be the
fulfilment of a long-held ambition. Boccia was originally designed
as a sport for the disabled and is one of just three paralympic
sports that have no counterpart in the able-bodied Olympics.
David Smith - rowing
When rower David Smith makes his debut at the Paralympics in the
mixed-cox fours, it will be hard to believe it was just over two
years ago he was temporarily paralysed from the neck down following
an operation.
The 34-year-old, whose home town is Aviemore, had to learn to
walk again from scratch following an operation to remove a tumour
on his neck. But within just 15 months he was back in his boat and
winning World Championship gold.
He said: "I love sport and enjoy pushing myself physically and
mentally and the challenge of reaching these Games has got me
there."
Jim Anderson - swimming
Move over, Chris Hoy. The cycling star might be
Scotland's most successful Olympian, but swimmer Jim Anderson OBE
has competed at every Paralympic Games since Barcelona 1992, making
London his sixth Games and he's hoping to add to the six gold, nine
silver and two bronze medals he already has to his name.
And it's not the only talent the 49-year-old, from Broxburn,
West Lothian, boasts: he is also a former wheelchair disco
champion.
Anderson, who has cerebral palsy, was inspired to start swimming
as a teenager. He said: "I am a wheelchair-user so getting in the
pool gives me a freedom that I don't have out of the water.
"I hope attitudes towards Paralympics will change as a result of
the TV coverage. Paralympians are elite athletes and this is a
great chance to showcase our ability as athletes, not our
disabilities."
Watch us LIVE on Glow TV - Tune in this Friday
14 September to speak live to Olympic gold medallist Tim Baillie!
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